Hollow Silicon Carbide Nanostructures

Hollow silicon carbide nanostructures with length up to 1 m have been produced for the first time along with threadlike structures. The preparation of SiC nanostructures from silicon and carbon at 1000-1100 °C was carried out without prior gasification of these elements. The growth of SiC nanostructures involves a step featuring atomization of silicon and carbon at such low temperatures. The growth of SiC nanotubes upon the reduction of carbon by SiO₂ in the initial period of the preparation proceeds with their predominant formation as bundles. Silicon carbide may correspond to the highly textured -modification.     

碳化硅和碳化硼在电催化中的应用

燃料电池是具有广泛应用前景的新能源技术。碳载铂基催化剂（Pt/C）是最常用的燃料电池电极催化剂,不过Pt/C稳定性较差、且成本高昂,严重限制了燃料电池的规模化应用。共价型碳化物碳化硅和碳化硼,由于具有极强的共价键,其物化稳定性优异,成为制备高稳定性、低成本的燃料电池催化剂的重要基础材料。本文总结了相关研究成果,介绍了碳化硅和碳化硼的独特优势,讨论了相关研究的发展方向。     

碳化硅和碳化硼在电催化中的应用

燃料电池是具有广泛应用前景的新能源技术。碳载铂基催化剂(Pt/C)是最常用的燃料电池电极催化剂,不过Pt/C稳定性较差、且成本高昂,严重限制了燃料电池的规模化应用。共价型碳化物碳化硅和碳化硼,由于具有极强的共价键,其物化稳定性优异,成为制备高稳定性、低成本的燃料电池催化剂的重要基础材料。本文总结了相关研究成果,介绍了碳化硅和碳化硼的独特优势,讨论了相关研究的发展方向。     

碳化硼纳米线的制备和结构

以碳纳米管为模板，通过加热碳纳米管与硼粉的混合物，获得了笔直的硼碳纳米线.对纳米线的结构和成分进行研究，结果表明纳米线主要为B4C纳米线.在部分B4C纳米线的端部存在Ni颗粒，这些端部具有Ni颗粒的纳米线构成了纳米磁针.讨论了B4C纳米线的生长机制，B4C纳米线的生长主要为硼原子在碳纳米管中扩散并发生化学反应，使得碳纳米管晶格结构发生重组，形成B4C纳米线.反应后，硼原子部分取代了碳纳米管中碳原子，修补了碳纳米管中的晶格缺陷，获得了形态笔直的B4C纳米线.     

Synergistic Effect of Boron Nitride and Carbon Domains in Boron Carbide Nitride Nanotube Supported Single-Atom Catalysts for Efficient Nitrogen Fixation

Developing the low-cost and efficient single-atom catalysts (SACs) for nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) is of great importance while remains as a great challenge. The catalytic activity, selectivity and durability are all fundamentally related to the elaborate coordination environment of SACs. Using first-principles calculations, we investigated the SACs with single transition metal (TM) atom supported on defective boron carbide nitride nanotubes (BCNTs) as NRR electrocatalysts. Our results suggest that boron-vacancy defects on BCNTs can strongly immobilize TM atoms with large enough binding energy and high thermal/structural stability. Importantly, the synergistic effect of boron nitride (BN) and carbon domains comes up with the modifications of the charge polarization of single-TM-atom active site and the electronic properties of material, which has been proven to be the essential key to promote N₂ adsorption, activation, and reduction. Specifically, six SACs (namely V, Mn, Fe, Mo, Ru, and W atoms embedded into defective BCNTs) can be used as promising candidates for NRR electrocatalysts as their NRR activity is higher than the state-of-the art Ru(0001) catalyst. In particular, single Mo atom supported on defective BCNTs with large tube diameter possesses the highest NRR activity while suppressing the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction, with a low limiting potential of −0.62 V via associative distal path. This work suggests new opportunities for driving NH₃ production by carbon-based single-atom electrocatalysts under ambient conditions.     

碳化硼成分分析标准物质的研制

介绍碳化硼成分分析标准物质的制备方法。以硼酸和蔗糖为原材料,酯化反应得到硼酸酯沉淀,经过烧结制备碳化硼粉体。用低温前驱体裂解法制备碳化硼成分分析标准物质,并进行了均匀性检验、稳定性考察,采用8家实验室协作定值,对定值结果的不确定度进行了评定。结果表明,研制的碳化硼成分分析标准物质具有良好的均匀性和稳定性,量值准确可靠,定值结果的相对扩展不确定度为0.003 1%~0.13%(k=2)。     

Determination of Chloride in Nuclear-Grade Boron Carbide by Ion Chromatography

This paper describes the use of ion chromatography with conductivity detection to determine chloride in nuclear-grade boron carbide. Samples were fused with sodium carbonate and fused mass was dissolved in hot water. The accuracy of the fusion method was evaluated by means of spike-recovery tests. Anion chromatography in suppressed-conductivity mode was performed with a mixed solution of Na₂CO₃ and NaHCO₃ as mobile phase. The detection limit for chloride was 33 mg kg^–1 and the recovery of added chloride was 98–104%. The relative standard deviation was 6% for the overall method.     

Oxidation Behaviour of A Boron Carbide Based Material in Dry and Wet Oxygen

The oxidation behaviour of a B₄C based material was investigated in a dry atmosphere O₂(20 vol.%)-CO₂(5 vol.%)-He and also in the presence of moisture H₂O (2.3 vol%) as boron oxide is very sensitive to water vapour. The mass changes of samples consisting of a chemical vapour deposit of B₄C on silicon nitride substrates were continuously monitored in the range 500–1000°C during isothermal experiments of 20 h. The stability of boron oxide formed by oxidation of B₄C was also studied in dry and wet atmospheres to explain the kinetic curves. In both atmospheres, oxidation is diffusion controlled at 700 and 800°C and enhanced by water vapour. At 900°C and higher temperatures, boron oxide volatilisation and consumption by reaction with water vapour modifies the properties of the oxide film and the material is no more protected. At 600°C, B₄C oxidation is weak but the process remains diffusion controlled in dry conditions as boron oxide volatilisation is negligible. However, in the presence of water vapour, B₂O₃ consumption rate is significant and mass losses corresponding to this consumption and to the combustion of the excess carbon are observed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

石墨基底对碳/碳化硼复合纳米绳形成的影响

利用邻碳硼烷(C₂H₁₂B₁₀)作为反应原料,二茂铁(C₁₀H₁₀Fe)作为催化剂,通过化学气相沉积法在石墨基片上生长出一种新颖的碳化硼纳米绳。用X射线衍射仪分析纳米绳的相结构,用场发射扫描电子显微镜(FESEM)和高分辨透射电子显微镜(HRTEM)观察纳米绳的微观形貌和结构,结果发现纳米绳的中心部分是碳化硼纳米线,在线的表面有非晶碳绳结,故纳米绳为碳/碳化硼复合物。研究了绳状产物的生长机理,表明石墨基片对产物的形成有至关重要的作用。     

硼纳米结构的理论和实验研究

硼元素,作为第三主族中唯一非金属元素,其原子具有特殊的缺电子性质,因而产生了复杂的键合机制。从硼原子之间的双中心-双电子键到平衡体系电子分布的多中心双电子键,硼因此具有多种同素异形体。低维硼纳米结构材料具有不同于体相的独特结构及特殊性质,相关理论和实验研究已成为近年来的研究热点。本文从理论和实验两个方面,系统介绍了零维硼团簇到一维硼纳米管、硼纳米线及二维硼纳米结构的相关研究,主要针对其结构、性质与潜在应用进行综述。目前,仍需系统化探索其制备及稳定等相关问题,力求揭示其固有属性,以发挥硼基纳米结构材料在未来纳米器件和能源催化方面的重要应用。     

Porous Molybdenum Carbide Nanostructures Synthesized on Carbon Cloth by CVD for Efficient Hydrogen Production

Molybdenum carbide (Mo₂C) is a promising noble-metal-free electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), due to its structural and electronic merits, such as high conductivity, metallic band states and wide pH applicability. Here, a simple CVD process was developed for synthesis of a Mo₂C on carbon cloth (Mo₂C@CC) electrode with carbon cloth as carbon source and MoO₃ as the Mo precursor. XRD, Raman, XPS and SEM results of Mo₂C@CC with different amounts of MoO₃ and growth temperatures suggested a two-step synthetic mechanism, and porous Mo₂C nanostructures were obtained on carbon cloth with 50 mg MoO₃ at 850 °C (Mo₂C-850(50)). With the merits of unique porous nanostructures, a low overpotential of 72 mV at current density of 10 mA cm⁻² and a small Tafel slope of 52.8 mV dec⁻¹ was achieved for Mo₂C-850(50) in 1.0 m KOH. The dual role of carbon cloth as electrode and carbon source resulted into intimate adhesion of Mo₂C on carbon cloth, offering fast electron transfer at the interface. Cyclic voltammetry measurements for 5000 cycles revealed that Mo₂C@CC had excellent electrochemical stability. This work provides a novel strategy for synthesizing Mo₂C and other efficient carbide electrocatalysts for HER and other applications, such as supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries.     

A New Class of Boron Nanotube

The configurations, stability and electronic structures of a new class of boron sheet and related boron nanotubes are predicted within the framework of density functional theory. This boron sheet is sparser than those of recent proposals. Our theoretic results show that the stable boron sheet remains flat and is metallic. There are bands similar to the π‐bands in graphite near the Fermi level. Stable nanotubes with various diameters and chiral vectors can be rolled from the sheet. Within our study, only the thin (8, 0) nanotube with a band gap of 0.44 eV is semiconducting, while all the other thicker boron nanotubes are metallic, independent of their chirality. It indicates the possibility, in the design of nanodevices, to control the electronic transport properties of the boron nanotube through the diameter.     

等离子发射光谱法测定碳化硼颗粒增强铝基复合材料中6种元素

采用等离子发射光谱法同时测定碳化硼颗粒增强铝基复合材料中Al,Si,B,Mg,Cu,Fe等元素的含量。分析了各元素之间以及基体的光谱谱线相互干扰情况,对标准溶液采取与样品大致相同的基体匹配方式,消除了基体干扰,使测定结果更加准确。     

碳化硅纳米管的制备及表征

Silicon carbide nanotubes (SiCNTs) were prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Methyltrichlorosilane (MTS) was selected as the SiC gaseous source and, ferrocence and thiophene as the catalyst and the cocatalyst, respectively. The influences of pyrolysis temperature, the content of catalyst and the cocatalyst, and the mole ratio between H₂ and MTS, on the shape of the pyrolysis products were investigated, respectively. The products were characterized by SEM, EDX, XRD and HRTEM, respectively. Novel type of multi-walled SiCNTs, with 30～80 nm and 15～20 nm outer and inner diameters, respectively, were observed.     

ICP–AES法测定硼铝复合材料中的硼

建立电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法(ICP–AES)测定辐照后硼铝复合材料中元素的方法。用氢氧化钠将辐照后的硼铝复合材料溶解过滤,滤纸和滤渣采用碱熔法制样。采用基体匹配法消除基体干扰,仪器工作条件:RF发生器功率为1 150 W,雾化器压力为151.7 kPa,辅助气流量为0.5 L/min,硼元素的分析线为249.678 nm,积分时间为5 s。硼的质量浓度在15~28 mg/L范围内与光谱强度呈良好的线性关系,线性相关系数为0.999 7。方法的回收率为99.1%~100.8%,测定结果的相对标准偏差为0.76%(n=10)。该方法快速,准确度和精密度高,能够满足样品测量需要。     

Boron nanotubes.

A survey of novel classes of nanotubular materials based on boron is presented. Pure boron nanotubes are a consequence of a general Aufbau principle for boron clusters and solid boron phases, which postulates various novel boron materials besides the well-known bulk phases of boron based on boron icosahedra. Furthermore, several numerical studies suggest the existence of a large family of compound nanotubular materials derived from crystalline AlB2. We compare these novel boron-based nanotubular materials to standard nanotubular systems built from carbon, and point out a number of remarkable structural and electronic properties that make boron-based nanotubular materials an ideal component for composite nanodevices and extended nanotubular networks.     

Enhanced Adsorption of Polysulfides on Carbon Nanotubes/Boron Nitride Fibers for High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are one of the most promising high-energy-density storage systems. However, serious capacity attenuation and poor cycling stability induced by the shuttle effect of polysulfide intermediates can impede the practical application of Li-S batteries. Herein we report a novel sulfur cathode by intertwining multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and porous boron nitride fibers (BNFs) for the subsequent loading of sulfur. This structural design enables trapping of active sulfur and serves to localize the soluble polysulfide within the cathode region, leading to low active material loss. Compared with CNTs/S, CNTs/BNFs/S cathodes deliver a high initial capacity of 1222 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 C. Upon increasing the current density to 4 C, the cell retained a capacity of 482 mAh g⁻¹ after 500 cycles with a capacity decay of only 0.044 % per cycle. The design of CNTs/BNFs/S gives new insight on how to optimize cathodes for Li-S batteries.